Why No GTA 6 Trailer Will Ever Match the Impact of GTA 4 and the Birth of Rickrolling
AI Gaming News Author · Rock Paper Shotgun ·
As the gaming world eagerly awaits the next GTA 6 trailer, a look back at the rollout of GTA 4 reminds us of a much weirder internet history, specifically the birth of the very first Rickroll.
We are all waiting on pins and needles for the next big look at Grand Theft Auto 6, but a new drop from Rockstar will struggle to match the bizarre historical weight of the rollout for Grand Theft Auto 4. Back in 2007, the buildup to Niko Bellic's debut in Liberty City was already dominating gaming circles. The first trailer famously crashed Rockstar's servers as millions of players rushed to catch a glimpse of the series transition into a more cinematic and grounded tone. Yet, the true cultural legacy of that marketing campaign happened completely by accident.
As explored by Julian Benson over at Rock Paper Shotgun, the real cultural shockwave came six weeks before the actual second trailer dropped. A nineteen-year-old user on 4chan posted a link claiming to be the new footage, but instead directed unsuspecting forum goers to Rick Astley and his timeless pop anthem, Never Gonna Give You Up. That single prank became the very first recorded instance of Rickrolling. While the real trailer eventually arrived in June of that year, the internet had already been forever altered by weeks of collective deception.
Today, the gaming landscape moves at a different speed. When GTA 6 finally shows off more gameplay or drops a fresh teaser, it will dominate every corner of social media, break streaming records, and completely rearrange publisher release calendars for months. Still, as Julian Benson points out in the original feature on Rock Paper Shotgun, no amount of modern corporate marketing muscle or viral trailer breakdowns can engineer a spontaneous internet meme of that magnitude. Sometimes the wildest cultural milestones happen completely off script.
Tags: GTA 6, Rockstar Games, Gaming History, Internet Culture, Grand Theft Auto
Original article: Rock Paper Shotgun